MESA (Arizona): Michael Phelps closed out the Arena Pro Swim Series meet with a win in the 100m freestyle on Saturday, and also finished third in the 200m individual medley behind fellow Olympic champion Ryan Lochte.

Phelps, competing for the first time this week following a six-month ban for a drunk driving conviction, finished strong over the final 50 metres of the 100 to finish in 49.72 seconds.

Lochte, who won the 200 individual medley in 1:58.70, finished five-hundredths of a second behind Phelps in the 100 free.

“Tonight was the best night of racing I think I’ve had since I was here [a year ago],” said Phelps.

Phelps is competing for the first time since last August with an eye toward returning to glory at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. In the 200 individual medley, he finished third, behind Lochte and Conor Dwyer.

Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 18 golds and 22 total medals, while Lochte has eleven medals, five of which are gold.

In other events, Hungary’s “Iron Lady” Katinka Hosszu earned her third win of the week in the women’s 200m individual medley. Hosszu clocked 2:11.40, with American Caitlin Leverenz second in 2:12.59.

Arkady Vyatchanin, a former Russian Olympian who is pursuing Serbian citizenship, won the men’s 200m backstroke with a time of 1:56.95 — seventh-fastest in the world this year.

Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, rallied to win the women’s 200m backstroke in 2:12.05, edging Hosszu for the gold.

World record-holder Katie Ledecky won the women’s 800m freestyle in 8:13.02, well off her 2015 world-leading 8:11.21 but good for her fourth freestyle victory of the week after wins in the 1,500m, 400m and 200m.

She opted out of the 100m free final on Saturday night, which was won by the Bahamas’ Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace in 54.18sec. Vanderpool-Wallace completed a sweep of the women’s sprints when she later won the 50m free.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2015

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